A Loaded Smile
by Chasyn
Summary: Zach was having a bad day. And he snapped. He couldn't stop himself. In that second, Owen wasn't his loving boyfriend of two years. He wasn't the love of his life, his light in the darkness, his other half to his soul. Owen was the annoying guy smiling at him and taunting him. (Owen/Zach, gay stuff, language, short.)


**Summary**: Zach was having a bad day. And he snapped. He couldn't stop himself. In that second, Owen wasn't his loving boyfriend of two years. He wasn't the love of his life, his light in the darkness, his other half to his soul. Owen was the annoying guy smiling at him and taunting him.  
**Notes**: Short, 3 chapter fun thing. 8D Zach/Owen, established relationship and Zach is one of Rexy's trainers. Cuz yeah, sure. Why not?

**A Loaded Smile  
Chapter 1: Can't Fake Another Smile**

He was having a bad day at work. Actually, that was an understatement. He was having the worst day, ever, of his entire life! Everything had gone wrong since he woke up, alone in bed, and missed the alarm clock when he tried to slap it off. Instead, he ended up on the floor and smacked his head against the nightstand as he fell. He scraped himself up off the ground and reached for his phone. And he immediately stubbed his toe against the same offending nightstand. Several curses were ripped from his throat as he fell back onto the bed. His phone slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor as he rubbed at his forehead. He pulled his foot into his lap and rubbed at his toe, too. Just as soon as the pain subsided a bit, he bent forward and picked up his phone. And the screen had a crack in it. And it was barely a month old.

His boyfriend called a few minutes later and his response was that a bad start had nowhere to go but up. He rolled his eyes at that. Sometimes the man's constantly happy and positive demeanor got on his nerves. But he took a tiny bit of enjoyment, as the day went on, in the fact that said boyfriend couldn't have been more wrong.

Because the day just got worse and worse.

His jeep wouldn't start. A kid ran into him with an ice cream cone. A mother asked for a photo with him and handed him a screaming baby to hold that spit up all over him. Rexy had been super stubborn and refused to do anything he asked. Some asshole threw a drink at him because of it. He'd gotten yelled at by his boss, something to do with paperwork that she claimed wasn't turned in properly. And things just escalated from there, as hard as that was to believe.

Seriously!

Everything that could go wrong, went wrong for Zach Mitchell that day. And every time his boyfriend, Owen, called or texted, it was always with some sunshine laced platitude. And Zach just gritted his teeth against it. Because Owen was just pissing him off.

It was dark by the time he got back to the bungalow. He was tired and cranky and sweaty and gross. He was still sticky and smelled like baby vomit, despite trying to wash up and buying a new shirt at the gift shop. He just wanted to peel off his clothes and get in the shower and then go to bed and just be dead to the world for many hours. And he didn't want to hear...

"Hello, Sunshine!"

Zach glared at the man, standing there, all perfect. Owen had obviously showered. His hair looked flawless and he was shirtless and he was wearing a pair of loose pajama pants that hung a bit too low on his hips. The man was pretty much the definition and embodiment of sex. And he was smiling. And everything about Owen in that moment just pissed Zach off royally. His eyes narrowed into a glare and he pushed past Owen, trying to walk around him and just get away before he exploded.

But he wasn't fast enough. Owen grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Oh come on." He said with a light laugh. "Give me a smile."

Zach yanked his arm away and pushed Owen back.

Owen didn't take the hint and just kept smiling. "Nothing is that bad, baby." He reached for Zach away.

And Zach was trying to fight it. He really was. It wasn't Owen's fault Zach was having the worst day. Owen was just being his normal self. But Zach was having trouble. He turned his back on Owen and bit his lip. _Hard_. Because he was trying so hard!

Owen laughed again, just a soft little playful sound. "Just try. A little smile. It'll make you feel better."

And he snapped. He couldn't stop himself. In that second, Owen wasn't his loving boyfriend of two years. He wasn't the love of his life, his light in the darkness, his other half to his soul. Owen was the annoying guy smiling at him and taunting him. Zach spun around, a growl rumbling from his throat. His eyes narrowed into a glare and he lifted his hand to point a finger aggressively at his offender. "You smile way too fucking much and it's fucking pissing me off!" He practically screeched the words.

Owen's reaction was delayed and slow, as if he wasn't sure at first how serious his other half was. He just stared for a moment. He blinked and furrowed his eyebrows and the smile slowly fell from his face. Very slowly and it looked like it actually fell, like the muscles just gave up and dropped along with the rest of the man's body. His shoulders, his chest, his whole aura seemed to droop a bit. "Fine." Owen said finally, his voice just as flat and emotionless as his expression had become.

Zach softened a bit. He pulled his hand back and straightened up. "Fine?" He repeated, tilting his head a bit in confusion. "Fine what?" He asked.

"I'll stop smiling." Owen answered, straight-faced.

Zach blinked for a moment, completely taken aback. He was at a loss for words. _What the fuck?!_ He opened his mouth slowly. "Uh..."

"It's late." Owen said before Zach could finish his thought. "I gotta get up early again." He stepped closer and leaned into Zach's space. He pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Love you." He stepped around Zach and headed towards the bedroom.

Zach turned, watching him for a moment. "Huh." He shook his head and headed for the bathroom. Yeah, he wasn't exactly sure what Owen had meant. Because just the thought of him _not_ smiling, for _any_ amount of time, was completely bizarre and unheard of. Owen couldn't go five minutes without smiling. Zach snorted softly to himself as he shut the door behind him.

**-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

**Author's Notes:** Blah, blah, blah. Whatever. I've been in a non-writing funk for about a week. XD Trying to muscle through it.


End file.
